Kingdoms of Amalur IP Purchased by THQ Nordic
In one of the stranger news to come up today, the Kingdoms of Amalur IP has been picked up by THQ Nordic from the now dead 38 Studios. THQ Nordic will have rights to all the assets from both the 2012 Action Role Playing Game Kingdom’s of Amalur Reckoning and the unreleased MMO Project Copernicus.
For those of you who might not have remembered the 38 Studios debacle, former professional baseball player Curt Schilling bankrolled the founding of his own game studio back in 2006. Schilling was known as a huge fan of MMOs and played so much Everquest that the developers gave him his own special Boston Red Sox armor, and started his company in the same city.
The company moved to Rhode Island and was able to secure a $75 million loan from the state to fund development of Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning and an MMO set within the same universe. The company also promised the state that 450 jobs would be created by the end of 2012.
38 Studios acquired developer Big Huge Games, of Rise of Nations fame, and enlisted the help of big talents like author R.A. Salvatore and Spawn creator Todd McFarlane to develop the Amalur universe’s lore and style.
Reckoning did come out in early 2012 and sold 1.2 million copies in its first 90 days on shelves, a success in almost any regard. But when multiple checks bounced for repaying the state ‘s loan, the company had to shutter after only 6 years in operation. A massive investigation ensued where Schilling revealed that he lost most of his money from baseball on the company and that executives in the studio knew that the money from the state wasn’t nearly enough to fund development of their MMO.
Eventually the state along with Schilling and 38 Studios’ Execs came to a settlement of $16 million to be paid as damages. The life and death of 38 studios is such an unmitigated disaster that is incredibly sad to recount given how many people worked on these projects and their work will never see the light of day. Some stuff has leaked like this trailer, but who knows? Maybe there are a lot of assets still there for THQ Nordic to use for a new Amalur game. We’ll just have to wait and see if we’ll ever get to visit this world again.
Did you play Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning back in the day? Be sure to follow us on Twitter for any updates regarding Amalur rumors or news and check out these other stories from Don’t Feed The Gamers
Colin Regan239 Posts
Colin is a freelance writer for DFTG with previous bylines at other media outlets such as Twinfinite.
